Tales of the Berserker
by Lrbearclaw
Summary: The origin and stories about my Berserker on the Tribunal server of EverQuest. Khongol Hackinemupp. Enjoy.
1. The Origin of Khongol Hackinemupp

_The present in the story actually happened when Khongol was a new character to EverQuest. I hope you enjoy. If you review, please remember that I wrote this years ago._

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_**"Why not be a Shaman?"  
**_  
**"Simple, Mom, I gotta be in the thick of battle. Not standin' around and slowin' the enemy. 'Sides, remember me in school? I hated ta study."**

_**"How about a Beastlord?"**_**  
**  
**"Great… then I'd be the joke of the group, even worse than Rangers and Bards. And I ain't that good with animals."**

_**"Rogue then. You can still fight but be safe."  
**_  
**"No, then I wouldn't be trusted. I **_**NEED**_** ta fight, not poke it with little knives."**

The Barbarian woman, Tehmpest, sighed and shook her head, sending her then blonde, shoulder-length hair dancing. _**"Fine then, you can be a Warrior."**_ This admission was ironically difficult coming from the Warrioress.

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Snapped from the memories, the Barbarian man swung his axe rending his foe in twain. The chuckle which had been in his throat was promptly cut short at the terror-filled scream, _**"TRAIN!!"**_

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_**"Urthak, Tehmpest... yer son's got issues with rage."**_ Dargon McPherson told them with a sigh. He did not like letting down one of his Guild's finest Warriors. _**"A berserker such as him ain't safe. not jest fer the Warrior Guild, but fer himself as well."**_

The Guild Master lowered to his knee and touched the young Khongol on the shoulder. _**"I'm truely sorry, my boy, ya'll never be a Warrior."**_ The Guild Master lowered his head a moment and then rose. _**"May the Tribunal and other jut gods of Norrath bless ya, Khongol, as ya seek yer place."**_

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With a quick sweep of his golden eyes, Khongol promptly found the source of the shout. It was a Teir'Dal Shadow Knight and a Human Druid. Under his breath, the gravelly voiced Barbarian muttered, **"Dun they know that BlackBurrow ain't safe? 'Specially fer Druids."**

With a push of his powerful legs, Khongol leaped from the platform he had been resting on and landed between the battered pair and their canine attackers. The couple had just passed where Khongol now stood and paused their escape to gawk at the kilt wearing man. Khongol bellowed at the two the command, **"Run fer Qeynos Hills; I'll handle these mutts."** With a sharp glance he saw they were still there, he repeated himself once. **"RUN!"**

_**"What about you?"**_ The Shadow Knight asked, worry hinting in his harsh voice. Clearly he had not spent much time in Neriak.

**"I'll be fine. Go now!"** With that, Khongol raised his greataxe, whose head was made of solid glowing Velium. After seeing the pair run up the hill and make for the exit, Khongol then turned his attention to the small army which began to pass the man.

As he focused on the slobbering, dog-like Gnolls, he could see an aura-like color about each one. Once he saw a red aura, he had his target. A quick strike with one of his blunt throwing axes was all it took to knock out the knee of the Gnoll Guardsman. The Halasian was rewarded as the beast howled in pain and turned to face the one that inflicted the injury upon it.

This also had the side effect that the entire ocean of fur, teeth, and steel no longer cared for the fleeing prey... but rather the being that was sacrificing itself. The Barbarian who wore golden chainmail.

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**"Dad, I decided. I'm gonna be a Berserker. Like ya are."** The young Khongol told his father one afternoon.

With a gleam of pride in his unblinded eye, Urthak responded. _**"In that case, inside my bank is my old Glowing Velium Axe as well as some old gear. Take it; it's now yours."**_

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After introducing the Gnoll train to the gods of Norrath personally, Khongol knelt down nearby to bandage his wounds. It would be far better to loot the corpses after he had attended to his wounds rather than having another of the beasts jump him in surprise. He was aware of his company before the voice came from behind. _**"What in the gods' names are you?"**_

He could not help but smirk as he rose and turned to face the speaker. It was the couple he had just saved singlehandedly. While the Druidess began to magically heal his wounds, Khongol answered, feeling pride swell in his breast. **"I'm a Berserker."**

The Shadow Knight looked at the piles of carcasses and shook his head as he chuckled. _**"I have heard tales of your kind before... but I have never seen any... or what they can do."**_

Khongol rested his axe on his healed shoulder to allow the woman to continue her work as he spoke her her guardian. **"Dun ya know bringin' a Druid here's suicide? The Darkpaws hate anyone from or with anyone from Surefall. Ya both coulda been killed."**

With a meek voice, the Human woman spoke. _**"We didn't think this would have happened. We thought we could handle them... but then three came at once. So we had to run."**_ A moment later she stood and stepped back to slump against a large rock to rest. _**"Well, that is the best I can do. I'm out of mana.... would you mind if we looked you up again? To group with us."**_

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	2. Epic Quest

A tall man clad in golden armor sat on the wooden roof of the building known by most as the "main bank" in New Tanaan. His mind drifted back to that first trip into BlackBurrow and the events prior. As his mind wandered, they soon ended on the frozen lands he called "Home". How he longs to return to Halas but not until his quest is complete.

His golden eyes fell on a simple pouch he held in his hands. He wouldn't open it, knowing well the items (and the stench) inside. A scent gland from the Reeking Skunk in Toxullia Forest, paw from the Gnashing Kobold in the Stonebrunt Mountains, liver from the Disease-Ridden Gorrila of the Emerald Jungle. After the parts were collected he had poured in a Philter of Major Translocation and sealed the container to not be again opened. _What did Keras want with that? I thought I was in trainin' not pickin' up groceries._ The Barbarian sighed and shook his head before stashing the pouch where it had come from.

The man stood upright and looked down; closing his eyes he felt the virtue of one of the clerics nearby fill him as well as the crowd that had been forming for the last several minutes. He leaped down off the roof and sprinted out on the next leg of his personal journey. Thus far he had been successful on his trials; some of which required help, such as the great water dragon, Praklion of the Cauldron. That dragon was a formitible foe, but the Berserker's family and guildmates made the beast into a fish fry. But the important thing was that he recovered the axe from the beast's gut and returned it completing the task.

The next task would prove to be a true challenge. The dual with the perfect image of a Berserker was hard enough. While he had won the battle, due to slaying her he felt that he indeed had failed the challenge in a way.

Standing on the other side of the traveler's tome in Fironia Vie's tunnels, he swung his great sword in a few practice motions. **"Not an axe no matter how fine a blade it is,"** came the growling, gravel-like voice of the barbarian. With the sword in hand he made his way toward Keras.

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The final task. A Raving Goblinmaster has been a terror in Warslick Woods for some time now. Why he should care about the Iksar, he cannot fathom. Aye, some were in his guild and most had proven their worth in battle, but these beasts had once been a mighty empire. What is to say this creature will not be one of the things to keep them in check due to killing their patrols?

He waited with Luclin standing high in in the night sky. Hearing a twig snap, he rose his weapon and spun about, seeing that his father, Urthak, had done the same. It was merely the contact he was sent to find. After a short conversation Khongol, the younger of the two men, hands the troll woman a small bag of a thousand platinum coins. _A small fortune to just find the location of this monster._ Once she shows them she disappears 'to hire more swords'. _Yeah right, I bet she'll blow it on orc-piss in Neriak's bars._

Khongol strode up to the goblin-leader and informed the green humanoid he was a Berserker; which prompted it to run for its life. The chase was on. After a few ambushes along the river, Khongol, his parents (Urthak and Tehmpest), and a few of their closest friends faced off with the Goblinmaster for a final battle that sadly was very short-lived. With tome in hand, Khongol returned to Keras.

_**"I am so impressed and proud of ye, Khongol. This had been a long journey, hasn't it? That said, this will be the most important adventure of yer life, for now you are a true berserker and a master of all of yer skills. As I promised, the completion of these trials would not only bring ye the honor of being recognized as a true berserker, but also a weapon only a true berserker can wield -- one that I fashioned myself. Use this weapon in yer travels and may it serve ye well in battle. Be well, Khongol -- Khongol the Berserker."**_

Once the axe was in his hand, the young Berserker raised it above his head and shouts a mighty war cry in victory.


End file.
